By John Moore, ProWrestling.net Staffer (@liljohnm)
NXT TV on USA Network
Aired live November 6, 2019 from Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University
[Hour One] Mauro Ranallo checked in with “Breaking News” they cut to “moments ago” where AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson laid out the Undisputed Era outside of Full Sail. Right after the recap, the OC walked into the Full Sail ring. Along the way, they attacked some stage hands. AJ Styles and Bullet Club chant variations ensued. 100% favorable reaction. Styles took the mic for a promo. He talked about how the Undisputed Era tried to bring the war to Raw and how they’re returning the favor. Styles said since UE is beat up, all the champions in NXT are out of commission. Styles said the OC is taking over NXT and that’s undisputed.
Tommaso Ciampa made his entrance to a “Daddy’s home” chant. Ciampa talked about how people have been asking him for years on how long it’ll take for Ciampa to get to the main roster. Ciampa said today he can now welcome Styles and the OC to the “Main Roster”. Ciampa said NXT is the main roster now and he’s welcoming people to “daddy’s home”. Ciampa said it’s fine beating up Undisputed Era but if the OC want to take over Ciampa’s ring, then Ciampa has a problem. Styles pointed out that they have Ciampa outnumbered and that Ciampa has balls for standing up to OC.
Keith Lee and Matt Riddle walked out to flank Ciampa and even up the numbers. Ciampa said NXT has plenty of balls in the arena now. Ciampa said talked about how he, Lee, and Riddle are preparing for UE at War Games but they’re ready for War with the OC tonight. Styles said he had to think of it for a second, but Ciampa’s on. Mauro called this an explosive start to NXT and it looks like we might get a trios match. Nigel noted that Regal has to grant this trios match…
Mauro Ranallo, Nigel McGuinness, and Beth Phoenix checked in on commentary and transitioned things to the next match…
John’s Thoughts: Very hot opening to NXT and nice to see what Styles, Anderson, and Gallows could do in the NXT environment. Limited time to do anything, but Styles was good on the mic and Gallows did a good job being the Razor Ramon type of guy providing the snarky facial expressions and bullying of the random people at ringside. This was a standard wrestling setup for a main event, but a solid iteration of that cliche open. Also good effective usage of the Orange County in NXT (yes, The OC is still Orange County to me)
1. Pete Dunne vs. Damien Priest. Mauro noted that Priest has sunk lower than his voice in kicking Dunne in the balls. Nigel compared Dunne to Hulk Hogan in terms of being the most dominant WWE champion in the modern era (as UK Champion). Priest and Dunne went for their finishes early. They then went to a striking stalemate. Cut to picture-in-picture commercial. [c]
Priest gave Dunne a Falcon Arrow back from the break. They showed Priest knocking down Dunne with a CQC combo during the commercial. A crawler graphic popped up on the screen to advertise The OC vs. Keith Lee, Tommaso Ciampa, and Matt Riddle. Dunne managed to hit Priest. Dunne hit Priest with a missile dropkick to Priest’s knee. Dunne reversed a suplex and gave Priest a spinning roundhouse to Priest’s head. Priest retreated to ringside. Dunne hit Priest with a Triangle Moonsault. Dunne used a backflip to elude Priest initially but Priest managed to hit Dunne with a backbreaker on the apron.
Dunne recovered in ring and managed to hit Priest with a sitout power bomb for the two count. This left both men lying to recover. Priest escaped another Bitter End combo. Priest clocked Dunne with a shortarm roundhouse to the head of Dunne. Priest caught Dunne ringside with a springboard Tope Con Hilo heading into the regular commercial. [c]
Dunne and Priest had a DBZ style punch exchange back from break. They then knocked each other out with stereo kicks to the other person’s face. Dunne hit Priest with a headbutt but Priest didn’t relent and turned Dunne inside out with a lariat. Dunne hit Priest with an enzuigiri. Dunne tried to backflip over Priest, but Priest got his hands on Dunne and hit him with a Razor’s Edge for the two count. Priest made a mistake by acting like he was pulling an arrow. This allowed Dunne to get the joint manipulation on Priest. Priest backed up on the referee in a mirror situation to their last match. It was Pete Dunne with the low blow this time. Dunne put Priest in the Cross Armbreaker and did his finger snap spot for the submission win.
Pete Dunne defeated Damien Priest via submission in 10:25 of TV Time.
Killian Dain attacked Dunne after the match. Priest tried to get some cheap shots in on Dunne but Dain attacked Priest and sent him to ringside. Dain went back at Dunne and hit Dunne with a Vader Bomb. Dain was about to leave and Priest attacked Dain for attacking him earlier. Dain got the upper hand of this exchange by shoving Priest into the steel steps. Dain gave Priest a Cannonball on the steel steps. Dain was the last man standing tall.
Beth announced Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, and Io Shirai vs. Rhea Ripley, Candice LeRae, and Tegan Nox as the women’s war games match. Beth said each team needs to make one more pick for their teams.
Cathy Kelley interviewed Dakota Kai about her match against Baszler later in this show. Kai noted that she isn’t the same as before because she has more fire this time. Kai said she’ll prove that she deserves to be on team Ripley. Kai acknowledged that Baszler said Kai would be a waste of a pick but Baszler will find out what a waste she is when she kicks Shayna in the face… [c]
John’s Thoughts: A great match and one of the better WWE matches that had multiple commercial breaks in it. A logical finish that sets up for a rubber match. Not only a rubber match, but Dain getting involved sets up a fun triple threat. I like that Priest and Dain weren’t on the same side because they are heels. Dain is doing a good job as an uncontrollable wild card in NXT who just runs out and beats people up. His independence stands out in a good way. By the way, last night’s Impact had 2 or 3 submission finishes and NXT has a submission finish here. It’s Submission week folks!
A graphic advertised the OC vs. Ciampa, Riddle, and Lee as the main event of this show…
Taynara [Conti] made her entrance, and I’m assuming she’s here as enhancement talent. Well? Santana Garrett was WWE’s designated enhancement female like two years ago…
2. Santana Garrett vs. Taynara Conti. Mauro framed this match as both women trying to impress the War Games team captains to earn a spot in the War Games match. Taynara dominated early on with a side legsweep and then a pretzel armbar. Garrett escaped with a few armdrags and side legsweep. Taynara caught Garrett with a Suplex and running knee. Taynara then gave Garrett some aggressive knees. Taynara lifted Garrett with a high knee to get a two count. Garrett tried to give Taynara forearms but Taynara went back with powerful knees.
Taynara gave Santana a series of Judo Throws. Taynara put Santana in a Rings of Saturn. Santana escaped and gave Taynara a jawbreaker. Santana fought off Taynara with boots. Santana ralled at Taynara with axe strikes and a cartwheel back elbow. Santana gave Taynara a elbow to get a two count. Santana missed a handspring kick. Taynara hit Santana with a back thrust kick to lead to the surprise pinfall win.
Taynara defeated Santana Garrett via pinfall in 4:08.
A quick advertisement aired for Tony Nese to show that he’s going to be on NXT this week…
Shayna Baszler was shown sparring with Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir… [c]
John’s Thoughts: A surprise somewhat given that Taynara has lost so many matches but she has proven in recent matches and this one that she has gotten better and deserves a shot to try to get regular TV time. I really liked the addition of aggressive knees in addition to her Judo. That said she’s still a bit rough in the ring, but she continues to show progression instead of regression (compared to someone like Shafir or Duke who are showing really slow progression). It’s also good to see Santana Garrett finally under a contract with a company after all these years. She also was allowed to keep her name!
A quick vignette aired to spotlight Angel Garza…
The commentators ran through the Survivor Series card which includes NXT talent…
3. NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler (w/Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke) vs. Dakota Kai in a non-title match. Baszler overpowered Kai early on before the separation. Kai shoved Baszler. Kai also gave Baszler a pie face. Kai then mocked Baszler with a light kick to the face. Kai rolled up Baszler with a corkscrew. Kai hit Baszler with a corkscrew snapmare. Baszler went to ringside to recover. Baszler blocked a PK from Kai and slammed Kai into the ringpost which looked vicious. Good sell.
Kai showed her double jointed-ness by getting beat up by Baszler and having her body twist in unnatural ways. Baszler then twisted around Kai like a pretzel. Baszler threw her hair tie at Kai and then stompped on Kai’s leg heading into commercial. [c]
Baszler continued to twist Kai back from break. Baszler also gave Kai a delayed dragon screw. Kai came back with a few lariats while also selling the knee. Kai hit Baszler with a side thrust kick. Kai then gave Baszler a bicycle boot from the apron. Kai hit Baszler with a seated slingshot meteora for the two count. Baszler staggered Kai on the top rope with a roundhouse. Baszler dominated Kai on the top rope. Baszler then gave Kai a Gutwrench Superplex for a two count. (Am I the only one that wants to see more matches end with a Superplex?).
[Hour Two] Baszler and Kai traded punches and forearms. Kai and Baszler were even in the strike exchange. Kai got in a headbutt to get the upper hand. Baszler came back with a roundhouse. Kai then came back with a discus forearm. Baszler shook up Kai with a step up enzuigiri. Kai came back with a Face Wash boot to leave both women lying and recovering. Kai gave Baszler flutter kicks. Baszler came back with a side Knee and Tiger Knee. Kai quickly escaped the Kirafuda Clutch. Kai went running but Baszler turned a suplex into a Kirafuda Clutch. Kai almost got to the ropes, but then had to tap out.
Shayna Baszler defeated Dakota Kai via submission in 7:53 of TV Time.
Nigel wondered if Kai’s performance impressed Rhea Ripley enough for Ripley to draft Kai to her team. After the match, the Horsewomen put the beatdown to Kai. Suddenly both war games teams ran out and madness ensued. The heels had the numbers advantage. Suddenly, non team member Mia Yim ran out with a Kendo Stick equalizer. She cleared all the heels from the ring…
The commentators cut to a recap of last week’s Smackdown featuring the NXT invasion…
John’s Thoughts: Well I guess Mia Yim is the final team member? Yim has really come off well since she started acting more like herself as opposed to what companies expect of her. As for the match, a really good match. I really like the stories I’m seeing in the ring tonight on NXT. This one was a good brawl and a good match to show the evolution of Kai compared to when she was helpless and timid in their earlier encounters. That said, no one makes a better training dummy for Shayna Baszler than Dakota Kai. That’s because Kai is double jointed and can make Baszler’s submissions look nasty.
Cathy Kelley interviewed Tommaso Ciampa who had Keith Lee and Matt Riddle with him. Cathy wanted to know if Ciampa has found a fourth team member for Ciampa’s match against Undisputed Era at War Games. Ciampa said he didn’t have an answer to that and instead went into hyping up his trios match against the OC for this episode… [c]
An advertisement aired hyping Isaiah Swerve Scott, the artist formerly known as Shane Strickland and Killshot…
Tony Nese made his entrance and yes he’s still talking despite you not being able to hear a word he’s saying. We do know he likes counting his abs still…
4. Tony Nese vs. Angel Garza to become Number One Contender to the NXT Cruiserweight Championship. Garza mocked Nese by counting his own abs. Nese and Garza pulled each other’s long hair. Garza went for a reverse Figure Four but Nese escaped. Many counters ensued leading to a standing stalemate. Nese took down Garza with an armbar. Garza got to his feet. Nese then gave Garza a Belly to Back. Nese showed off his biceps. Garza hit Nese with a huracanrana. Garza called a time out but Nese didn’t allow Garza to take off his pants. Nigel continued to joke about how this turns Beth Phoenix on.
Garza and Nense then had a strong style exchange. They both traded ground and pound. By the way, Garza’s pants are kinda just hanging half off. Garza hit Nese with an enzuigiri on the top rope. Nese went for a sunset flip but instead only ripped off Garza’s pants. Garza hit Nese with a missile dropkick. Mauro noted that he never thought he would call someone giving pants a power bomb. [c]
Garza hit a rally of running strikes on Nese. Garza gave Nese a wrecking ball dropkick to send Nese at ringside. Garza then hit Nese with a Hector Garza Triangle Moonsault. Garza gave Nese a backbreaker for a two count. Nese slid under Garza and gave him a sitout pumphandle slam for a two count. Garza hit Nese with a wheelbarrow lungblower. Nese gave Garza a slap on the top rope to knock him down. Nese hit Garza with a front kick, roundhouse, and sweep. Nese did a cartwheel to the outside and gave Garza a Tornado DDT at ringside. Nese hit Garza with the 450. Garza got his feet on the bottom rope to break the count.
Nigel noted that the ring awareness is a part of Garza’s genetics due to his family’s wrestling history. Garza caught Nese with a superkick to the gut. They then slapped each other’s hands. Garza gave Nese a sitout power bomb for a nice two count. Beth noted that Garza should have hooked the leg. Nese countered Garza’s lionsault with his feet but Garza landed on his feet and grabbed Nese’s feet. Garza hit Nese with a butterfly wing clipper for the victory.
Angel Garza defeated Tony Nese via pinfall in 9:00 of TV Time to become the number one contender to the NXT Cruiserweight Championship.
Garza was about to leave but Lio Rush made his entrance to confront Garza. Rush asked for a handshake saying he’s looking forward to their match. Garza teased a handshake but gave Rush a slap. Garza left. Rush smiled saying he understands Garza’s spunk.
They cut to Cathy Kelley interviewing Rhea Ripley and her war games team plus Mia Yim and Dakota Kai. Rhea Ripley announced that Mia Yim is the fourth member of the team. Yim said she’s happy to be collecting bodies at War Games. Kai looked disappointed. Rhea apologized to Kai for not making the cut. Kai said she understands and walked away disappointed to draw “awwww”s from the crowd… [c]
John’s Thoughts: A really fun match between two hybrid athletes. It’s good to see this type of hybrid fighting to show that cruiserweight wrestling is more than just flips. Garza did work a bit more babyface than usual, but he still had his heel tendencies at times, especially with the slap to Lio Rush. Looking forward to a good Rush vs. Garza match. I also like that Garza has found creative ways to get rid of that problem he had in Impact Wrestling where he would make his opponents look stupid when he called time outs during matches to take off his pants. After the match, I really liked Dakota Kai showing disappointment for not being picked for Ripley’s team. That’s definitely an attention to detail that NXT will get back to in the future.
Beth Phoenix introduced an updated graphic to show that Mia Yim is on team Ripley. A silhouette showed that Baszler needs another team member. They also showed the men’s war games match with a silhouette showing that Ciampa’s team needs a new member too…
Isaiah Scott made his entrance to his “not as good as Chaka Khan” theme…
5. Dominik Dijakovic vs. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott. Scott countered Dijak’s Tae Kwon Do stance with a armbar. Dijak came back with a cravate. Scott mocked Dijak’s Feast Your Eyes catchphrase. Scott took down Dominik with a kick combination. Scott tried to slingshot away but Dijakovic caught him and gave him a gutbuster and manhandle toss. Dijakovic gave Scott clubbing blows. Dijak gave Scott a release vertical suplex for a two count. Dijakovic gave Scott a delayed springboard splash for a two count. Scott planted Dijakovic with a rolling Paydirt.
Scott gave Dijakovic a springboard European Uppercut. Scott ran circles around Dijak and gave him a back suplex. Scott gave Dijak a cross kick and a pendulum DDT near the corner for the two count. Dijakovic crotched Scott. Scott reversed the Feast Your Eyes into a rollup. Scott hit Dijakovic with a feint enzuigiri. Dijakovic came back with a cyclone kick and chokebomb for a two count. Nigel noted that Scott is a former Evolve Champion. Dijakovic jawed with Scott while holding Scott’s jaw. Scott reversed a chokeslam into a Poison Rana. Scott gave Dijakovic a double stomp on the apron.
Isaiah Scott gave Dijakovic a Tornado Claw for a two count. The crowd gave Scott a “Swerve’s House” chant. Scott showed off his educated feet against Dijak. Scott no solde an inside out lariat into a stomp. Dijakovic recovered and caught Scott into the Feast Your Eyes for the victory.
Dominik Dijakovic defeated Isaiah Scott via pinfall in 7:17.
Mauro hyped the trios main event… [c]
John’s Thoughts: A series of great television matches tonight and this one is no exception. It’s cool that we’re getting a plethora of different styles. It always takes Scott a while when he enters a new company, but he’s again really getting over with his good in ring work. This match reminded me of some of the great Killshot matches he did in Lucha Underground Season 3, the season where he really started to click. Dijakovic loses nothing in selling to Scott because Scott could use a bit of elevation.
A Forgotten Sons vignette aired where they said you will never forget them…
John’s Thoughts: Well, aside from Ryker, I want to forget about these guys every week. Not a huge shot against them, but the Cutler and Blake tag team has been a dud.
Beth Phoenix advertised Io Shirai vs. Mia Yim for next week. Nigel McGuinness advertised Lio Rush vs. Angel Garza for the Cruiserweight Championship…
Entrances for the main event took place with ten minutes left at the top of the hour…
Broooooooooooooo….
6. “The OC” AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, and Matt Riddle. Trios madness ensued before the bell. Styles and Ciampa started off the match officially. Both men traded punches. They then traded dodges. Styles clocked Ciampa with a dropkick. Styles caught Riddle with his signature phenomenal Forearm to the outside. Ciampa hit Styles with the Willow Peak for the two count. Lee and Gallows tagged in for a battle between big men. Both men ran into each other, not knocking each other down.
Lee sent Gallows outside with a pounce. Gallows tagged in Machine Gun after kicking Lee. Lee did a leapfrog and hit Anderson with a crossbody after showing off his Lucha Libre agility. They cut to picture-in-picture commercial. [c]
[Overrun] The show returned 7:00pm PST. Styles, Anderson, and Gallows played isolation on Ciampa. Ciampa got a window of opportunity by catching a diving Anderson with a flying Tiger Knee. Ciampa tagged in Matt Riddle for the hot tag who cleaned house. Riddle hit Machine Gune with a Pele Kick. He gave Styles an exploder. Riddle then gave Anderson and Styles sentons. Riddle gave Anderson a deadlift German. Riddle gave Styles a GTS. Gallows broke up the pin after the German with a bridge. Ciampa broke up a Magic Killer on Lee.
Lee did squats with Gallows and hit him with a body slam. Styles gave Lee a DDT. Styles gave Riddle an enzuigiri. Styles gave Riddle a brainbuster for a two count. Styles caught Riddle with a forearm. Riddle got out of the way to allow Lee to hit Styles with a Monty Brown Pounce which also took out the referee. REF BUMP!!! Lee gave Gallows a lariat over the top rope. Riddle hit Lee and the Good Brothers with a Fosbury Flop. Ciampa gave Styles a Knee and went for a Fairy Tale Ending. He was stunned by Finn Balor making his entrance.
Styles gave Ciampa a Pele Kick. Finn Balor gave Matt Riddle a Bloody Sunday on the ramp. Styles did the too sweet sign while Balor did his double shooter finger guns (some Bullet Club leader interaction). Adam Cole saved Ciampa from the Styles Clash with a superkick, but he also gave Ciampa a Last Shot.
The OC vs. Ciampa, Lee, and Riddle ended in an apparent no contest at around 13:30.
Adam Cole stood tall in the ring while Finn Balor stood tall on the ramp to close the show…
John’s Thoughts: A really good iteration of a WWE style television main event. The fact that you don’t see NXT stars wrestle WWE stars, really makes the cross brand thing really work here because of the new matchups. This was also AJ Styles and Karl Anderson’s debut on what was considered a WWE developmental brand. Of course, Gallows came up in WWE developmental. This was a fun match and the reason it was fun was because it was fresh and involved a bunch of stars. While the heel/face dynamic is still a bit fishy in terms of mixing up with the main roster, I like Adam Cole attacking both Styles and Ciampa to attempt to mitigate this loose end. They also added some intrigue with throwing Finn Balor into the mix who is definitely on a collision course with Gargano.
This was a really good two hours of pro wrestling this week with a variety of good matches and solid build towards Survivor Series and War Games throughout the show. I’ll be by tomorrow morning with my member’s exclusive audio review while Jason Powell will be by sometime with his NXT Hit List.
You have to wonder if Dakota Kai is going to turn next week and be the 4th member of the heel team. It makes the most sense given her disappointment and the fact that the 4th member wasn’t announced.
Who is Jessamyn Duke trying to flex and intimidate with those thin little cigarette arms of hers?